Life of Crime

When considering the late, great Elmore Leonard's works, one thinks of memorable dialogue, colorful losers and lowlifes, amusing twists and occasional jarring brutality. One doesn't usually think of gentleness.

That, however, is one of the defining characteristics of "Life of Crime," the black comedy adapted by writer-director Daniel Schechter from Leonard's 1978 novel "The Switch." It may not even have been what Schechter and his enviable cast (including Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, John Hawkes and Isla Fisher) were going for, but that gentleness is what separates it from slicker, more hard-case Leonard films such as "Out of Sight" and "52 Pick Up."

"Life of Crime" is well made and acted, especially by Hawkes and Fisher, if it's not exactly gripping or noir-ish. It does include enough Leonard hallmarks to likely satisfy fans and did carry the writer's stamp of approval - he gave Schechter a free option for the material and served as an executive producer.

"Life" also is almost in a different universe from the bare-knuckled "Jackie Brown" (from Leonard's 1992 "Rum Punch"), whose central characters Ordell Robbie, Louis Gara and Melanie Ralston first appeared in "The Switch." Where Quentin Tarantino's film was haunted by menace, Schechter's tale of a bungled kidnapping is infused with bumbling bonhomie.

Not like 'Jackie Brown'

"Life of Crime" should not be regarded as a prequel to "Jackie Brown." For one thing, its source material preceded "Rum Punch" by more than a decade. More importantly, it's utterly different in tone and interpretation. There are most definitely hints in yasiin bey's Ordell of the cold-blooded killer he would later become, but here he is generally harmless. Generally.

Hawkes' Louis is not the addled time bomb of "Jackie Brown," and Fisher's Melanie is no aimless surfer girl. Fisher - as versatile, funny and smart as any actress of her generation - puts a patina of ripe tomato over a layer of manipulative gold digger/survivor with a rock-hard femme fatale center.

The '70s period piece is equally Aniston's show, giving the actress a vehicle entirely different from any she has previously driven. Her Mickey Dawson is an unhappy trophy wife to Robbins' selfish, boozing real estate millionaire Frank. When Ordell and Louis kidnap Mickey, they find to their dismay that Frank's dalliance with the Machiavellian Melanie has disincentivized him to pay the ransom. So where does that leave our two kidnappers, their living-with-mom neo-Nazi accomplice and the trophy wife scorned?

Here's where that gentleness comes in. It's Leonard, so the viewer knows a certain lethal realism is just around the corner on this sometimes silly walk. But the performance of Hawkes, in particular, turns the film from thriller into character piece.

The always-interesting actor has projected murderous menace when necessary, as in his brilliant, chilling turn in "Winter's Bone." His Louis, however, plays as a good-hearted guy who's just down on his luck and happens to have turned to kidnapping, but humanely.

This Louis' presence keeps the movie steering in safe enough waters so the viewer focuses on the people rather than the predicament. There is malice afoot, but we're more interested in this good bad guy than worried for the characters' lives.

Blue leisure suits

Schechter and his team, especially cinematographer Eric Alan Edwards, have fun with the era without making too big a deal of the wide lapels and bell bottoms - although blue leisure suits do materialize. They're not above some very '70s camera moves and other tricks, but not to the detriment of the story.

Adding able support are Mark Boone Junior ("Sons of Anarchy") as the not-quite-lovable white supremacist homebody and Will Forte, following his breakout role in "Nebraska," as a wannabe Lothario.